Thunderstorms and tornados have been pounding the southeast USA over the past 12 hours. I woke this morning and found my aunt fretting over her television. She told me that my hometown was ducking for cover because a rotating storm cell was coming in fast; the Weather Channel mentioned Chattanooga by name. At 7am, I knew that most of my family was still asleep. I called home and gave them a heads-up.

Growing up in the southeast we were very familiar with summer thunderheads and tornado drills. At school we practiced ducking for cover in cinderblock hallways and were vaguely aware of the language of dangerous weather. Tornado warnings meant nothing at all; tornado watches were almost as distracting at school; air raid sirens were rare but frightening. Almost everyone had a distant “cousin” who had seen a real tornado.

But tornados were summer phenomenon. I always understood that they need warm, moist air to form. Winters were for ice storms or sometimes snow (two whole inches!) to cancel school. It’s no wonder this storm system caught Alabama and western Tennessee off guard in the middle of the night: who’s heard of a tornado in February?

When I called home this morning, my family was aware of the weather but unconcerned. Windy, stormy weather was not quite worth climbing out of bed until I mentioned the tornados that had already touched down. Watching the radar from distant Maryland, I couldn’t help but wonder about all that warm, wet air. The storm system stretched from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes - what is the precident? How often is “rare” for tornados in February? With Asia struggling under their own rare, bitter winter, are the two phenomenon connected?

I believe it’s too soon to cry “global warming!” on this unsual storm, but that doesn’t push it from the back of my mind. Perhaps we could view this storm as an example of harships to come as global weather patterns shift into strange new configurations. What if tornados are among the more frequent woes in a warmer world? What will the next generation think of tornado drills and weather “warnings”, “watches”, and city sirens? Will our children know a “cousin” (which can mean almost anyone in the south) who saw a tornado, or will they have someone closer?

Even if this is a freak-storm we should still consider the implications of shifting weather. Are we ready to adapt? Will we leave the task of adaption to our descendents? Maybe we are already adapting with our efforts to reduce our impact on the planet, and even if we fail, at least we will be able to say that we tried. Unfortunately that thought leaves me with little comfort as I wait to hear back from my family and wait for the storm to pass.

 (Image courtesy of fas.org)